Now unlike all of the previous entries, I don’t have any stories for the Wolpertinger. That happens every once in awhile with an entry. The monster isn’t famous for causing terror, or battling it out with a legendary hero. They’re just remembered for being…odd.

Who doesn’t love a classic? Ammit is waiting right next to the Egyptian equivalent to the Pearly Gates. The catch? If Anubis weighs your heart and it’s found wanting, he’ll toss it right into the gaping jaws of this beauty.

A cross between a crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus, the Egyptians wanted to make sure you were scared. Instead of just threatening your immortal soul’s mauling by a scary animal, they combined the three most powerful animals in Egypt into one being.

So I started this project a year ago…and it’s starting to dawn on me how poorly I prepped some of the research.

Most of the creatures come from very specific entries in favorite bestiaries. And then there are some like….this guy…where all I did was punch something into google and draw my version of a picture I saw.

SO. This is called a ‘teehooltsoodi’ according to my notes. There’s an entry in Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, but it’s not very substantial. Basically, there’s a lot of work I need to do when digging into Native American myths.

From Atlantis, these half-stag, half-bird beauties hold a terrible secret. Though hard to detect, if you spy their shadow when they’re in full light, you’ll see the silhouette of a man.

What happens when you die out of reach of your gods? Your soul transforms into a Peryton. Haunted by their plight, their goal is to kill another human. If they can manage that, their soul will be released and they can finally rest in peace.

It’ll be left to the new peryton to wander and seek out it’s own prey.

Description: What do you do when you discover there’s a giant wolf that will one day cause the downfall of your religion’s presence on Earth?

You tie that sucker up.

There are a lot of great tidbits about Fenrir, but I like when the gods (who will NOT go near him – except Tyr) try and convince Fenrir into chains. They figured they need him bound so he can’t cause the end of their world. They challenge him by appealing to his pride, “You say no bonds can hold you, but how do we know you’re strong unless you allow us to test you?”. They’ve tried similar tactics with Fenrir’s dad, so it’s a good plan.

Except Fenrir is not exaggerating, and he breaks out of every known chain. So now we need a miracle.

That’s where the dwarves come in. They’re very handy, and manage to come up with a supple, thin ribbon: Gleipnir. Composed of the roots of a mountain, a woman’s beard, the breathe of fishes, the sinews of a bear, a bird’s spittle, and the footsteps of a cat, there was nothing stronger.

He’s tricked, tied, and tossed a mile underneath the ground. In the process Tyr loses a hand, but it’s a small price to pay to have saved Odin and the whole Norse pantheon.

Of course, prophecies have a neat way of working out. On the day of Ragnarok, Fenrir will break his bonds, eat Odin and fight against the gods on the side of giants.

Description: Related to centaurs, icthyocentaurs are both man and horse, but also have a dolphin or fish tail. Generally calmer than their land-bound cousins, Ichthyocentaurs make their home in the ocean. They peacefully coexist with with nymphs and other sea creatures.

Very appropriate for the winter weather, this week’s entry is the Yule Cat:

Name(s): Yule Cat

Country of Origin: Iceland

Description: It’s a giant cat that will eat you if you attempt to leave your house under-dressed for winter. Make sure that every Christmas you’re gifted new clothing. The Yule Cat doesn’t want to see any of last year’s fashion.

It’s exactly a year since I started a little side project of mine. I wanted to cultivate a Bestiary of my own. I suppose I’ll keep it up until it no longer captivates me. That interest hasn’t waned in the past year, so I have a nice collection of beasties to share. I’ll update the monsters weekly with their pertinent information, for those interested.

Obviously, I’ve taken artistic liberties. Hopefully they’ll average more of a boon than a bust.

Name(s): Fauth

Country of Origin: Scotland

Description: Fauth means “hate” or “horror”. It’s actually a classification of a range of rancorous Scottish fairies. They can be found in any body of water. Generally they will be green, either from clothes or scales. They may have webbed limbs and yellow manes and tails. They lack noses, so their eyes are especially sharp. Some can assume a human form and have tricked men and woman into marriage. More often, they’ll wait for an unsuspecting soul to travel close to water and drag them under, drowning them.

When I want to avoid work, sometimes I work 200% harder on a completely unrelated project. Like drawing as many pets as possible before guilt and impending deadlines finally make me get back the drawing board. But guys, when you see the page I’m talking about, you’ll totally get why I was playing hard to get.

While I finish up work on that, let’s show off the remaining pets:

In World’s Finest #112, this little alien guy followed Superman back to Earth. Superman tried to abandon it and then it died saving his life. It’s actually a really upsetting issue of World’s Finest. Silver Age Superman was not a nice person.

From there we transition to…

I am so upset that out of the womb people were not shouting at me, “WONDER WOMAN HAS A GIANT KANGAROO”. Learning this is one of the greatest additions to my life. Amazonians ride GIANT KANGAROOS into battle. I love comics.

Now for the Aquaman set: Tusky the Walrus, Ark the Seal, Topo the Octopus, and Salty, the Golden Retriever that can’t swim.

There are other pets I want to do, but I’m going to put a paws on this for now.